Main menu

Top Gear stunt team pulls off 'Deadly 720' double loop-the-loop

June 17, 2012

Share

Facebook

Tweet

Pinterest

Email

The traveling stunt show from the U.K. television franchise Top Gear has put another notch in its belt by running a buggy through a double loop-the-loop rig. It dubbed the stunt the "Deadly 720" and says the success sets a world record.

The Deadly 720 was performed in front of a live audience in Durban, South Africa, as part of the “Top Gear Live” arena show. Top Gear TV presenters Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May were present for the stunt, but a member of the Top Gear Live stunt team drove the vehicle.

To successfully complete both loops, the specially prepared buggy had to enter each loop at a speed between 24 mph and 26 mph. If the buggy was traveling too slowly, it risked falling out of the top of the loop. If it was going too fast, the g forces could have caused the driver to lose consciousness.

Completing a single full-scale loop-the-loop in with a car is not new; the U.K. TV show Fifth Gearpulled it off in 2009 with a stuntman driving a modified Toyota Aygo.

Top Gear says the Deadly 720 was the first time that two loops had been completed in sequence. The live performance was the first time the stunt had been successful; the team had failed three times during practice.

There's no word, yet, on whether this stunt will appear in a future Top Gear episode.